March 02, 2012

The Morning Wrap

Throttling: AT&T yesterday clarified its policy on throttling Internet download speed for the company's heaviest data consumers, saying that users who were grandfathered in on an unlimited data plan will now have their speed cut back if they go beyond more than three gigabytes a month. The Wall Street Journal coverage is here.

Complaining: The chief judge in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana filed a disciplinary complaint against himself for sending a racist e-mail to friends and family about President Barack Obama, The National Law Journal reports. Judge Richard Cebull acknowledged the e-mail he sent was inappropriate.

Suing:The Washington Post reports billionaire Koch brothers are suing the Washington think tank the Cato Institute in an attempt to gain greater control of the organization. Charles and David Koch filed suit in Kansas state court. Click here for a link to the complaint.

Pleading: A former DuPont Co. employee who stole trade secrets from the company and sold them to a Chinese government-owned firm has pleaded guilty in San Francisco federal district court, The Wall Street Journal reports. The former employee, Tze Chao of Delaware, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

Refusing: A hedge fund manager who used marital assets to buy a multi-million dollar home during a divorce proceeding will not be held in a contempt. The New York Law Journal reports George Sykes bought a $3.7 million house in Connecticut. The presiding state judge said Sykes' wife could be made whole through her entitlement to a credit for the purchase price or the value of the house at the time at trial.

Winning: A physician's assistant in California has won $168 million in a sexual harassment suit, an amount believed to be the largest ever for a single victim of workplace harassment, The Los Angeles Times reports. Lawyers for Sacramento's Mercy General Hospital had urged the jury to find the plaintiff, Ani Chopourian, guilty of professional misconduct.

Leaving: Senate Republican Olympia Snowe tells The Washington Post in an op-ed why she is leaving the Senate, where she has spent the past 17 years. "Simply put, the Senate is not living up to what the Founding Fathers envisioned," Snowe wrote.